Article by Mihai Șovei – Published Tuesday, December 23, 2025, 4:57 p.m. / Updated Tuesday, December 23, 2025, 5:00 p.m.
It is known that football players are some of the best targets for robbers who want to rob their homes valued at hundreds of thousands, even millions of euros. This is common in England, where many footballers have encountered such unpleasant situations.
To stop the threat from the robbers, the footballers came up with the solution: elite dogs worth 35,000 euros.
Elite dogs, the help of footballers
In some cases, alarms, video cameras and private security are no longer enough in the face of those who want to break into the footballers' homes. Elite dogs come to their aid, which can be bought for tens of thousands of euros, according to sport.es.
One of the first athletes to turn to such help is Andy Carroll. The then West Ham striker was robbed and chased by gunmen in his own home. The reaction of the English international was immediate: he bought two Cane Corso dogs. The expenses were approximately 35,000 euros.
Unfortunately, Andy Carroll's case was not isolated. In July 2019, Sead Kolasinac and Mesut Ozil were robbed in broad daylight on the street by two armed assailants. Ashley Cole also suffered a traumatic experience a year later when several assailants forced their way into his mansion at night, tied him to a chair and threatened to cut off his fingers in front of his wife and children. And the list can go on.
All these traumatic incidents have led many Premier League stars to acquire a protection dog. In addition to those previously mentioned, the list is huge. Legends such as John Terry and Rio Ferdinand have also taken the step, and countless active footballers such as Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard, Paul Pogba, James Maddison, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish or Marcus Rashford are some of those who have acquired their own protection dog.
Richard Osborn, co-founder of dog delivery and training company Chaperone K9, spoke to sport.es to explain in more detail their services and how they improve the safety of top players trying to protect their families and substantial wealth.
“Elite footballers face very specific security challenges: public visibility, predictable routines and the protection of their families. Our dogs provide a constant, intelligent and personal level of security that technology cannot replace.
Although the control systems are customized, the dogs are also trained to act autonomously if the situation calls for it, for example, if everything happens too quickly or in the event of a break-in when the family is not at home. The work does not end with the delivery of the dog. We provide ongoing support and training in real-life scenarios at the customer's home. It's a long-term relationship, not a simple transaction“, he declared.
